Piston packing-ring.



A. J. WES-T. PISTON PACKING RING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1

Patented Aug. 8, 191i m 0 L W PISTON PACKING-RING,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 30. 1910. Serial No. 569,724.

' ARTHUR 3'. WEST, OF BETHLEHEM, PENN 'SYLVANIA.

T 0 all whom it may concern: w

Be it known that I, An'riinn J. VEST, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bethlehem, in the county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piston Packing-Rings, of which the followin; is a specification.

'ly present invention relates to packing rings for. pistons and particularly to a packing ring designed for gas engines, such engines, especially when of the double acting type, requiring exceptionally thorough packing of the piston.

lleretofore many forms of packing ring have been devised but most of these have employed a keeper which was spring retained and formed a 'portion of the packing ring proper. The keeper was thus exposed to the direct heat and pressure of the explosions and being of small size great difiiculty was experienced in finding a metal which at once possessed sufiicient strength fortthc service and was capable of withstanding the heat. Cast iron keepers continually fail in such service while bronze alloys will fuse except when the constituents of the alloy are most carefully selected. Steel and wrought iron are apt to cut the cylinder walls and hence are unsatisfactory. l urthermore the pressure of the explosion being greater than the pressure in the packing ring grooves, the. keepers are frequently blown down into the grooves, leaving gaps between the ends of the ring sections through which incandescent.

gases blow pastthe piston and ignite the combustible mixture then present in the other end of the cylinder. To avoid these various difficulties it is necessary to devise a form of keeper which is not directly subject to the force and heat of the explosion and forms no' part of the face of the piston ring, so that if-the keeperbe blown down into the ring groove, the rings will still prevent leakage past the piston.

To secure this result without. unduly increasing the depth of the packing ring grooves or requiring complicated s ring structures undesirable in the hollow pistons necessarily used in large gas engines, isthe purpose of my invention which is illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which Figurel 1s a side view of an arbitrary form of piston shown merely to illustrate the mode of mounting the rings, but one ring being shown on the piston in this case; Fig.

2 is an enlarged perspective view of the ends of two ring sections in contact; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of akeeper; Fig. 4: is an enlarged perspective view ofv the spring; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an.

entire ring section; and Fig. 6 is an end view of the piston shown in Fi 1 and illustrating the positions assume by the .various parts.

1 represents the piston,which for the sake of simplicity is represented as having a single piston ring groove 2,,though obviously more would usually be provided, The rin is shown as made in four sections 3,-thoug the number of such sections may vary. Each -Patented. Aug. 8,

section is provided with a groove 4 on its.

inner face into which fits a leaf spring 5 having its ends slightly curved asat 6. The ends of the sections are s'carfed or lapped as at 7 and a recess 8 is cut on the inner side at the points of junction 'of the secti as. A keepcr'9 is formed to accurately fill" he recess 8, this keeper having grooves 10 extending from each end toward the middle of the keeper and forming extensions of the grooves 4. The rings are assembled in .the groove 2 on the piston with the keepers in the recesses 8 and the springs partiallyin the grooves 4 and terminating at each end in the grooves 10. The springs are so formed that they hear at their middles on the bottom of the groove 2 and at their ends'6 out- \vardlyonthe keepers. The keepers'are comparatively thin so as to lie dee 1n tliegroove 2, and when the piston is in tiecylinder the springs lie largely in the grooves 4:. In-this way the keepers are so deeply located in the grooves that danger of their being blown down is minimized, while due to the grooves 4 in the ring sections-a minimum clearance may be allowed for the springs beneath the rings so that there is small likelihood of gases blowing under the rings or between the keeper and the rings. It will be noted that inasmuch as the springs lie in the grooves of both the ring sections and keepers they tend to preserve accurate alinement of such parts under all conditions' Since the ends of the sections overlap, the rin s are still operative even though a keeperige blown down into the groove and as thekeepers are not subjected to direct heater pressure and are of simple-form, considerable range is allowed in the selection of material- I is avoidedand thekeepers may be thinner radially than would be possible were they intended to act as wedges. r v

Obviously, due to the'form of spring used and to the groove on the ringsections, the packin ring grooves may be of a comparatively shallow depth and still insure that the keepers be always below the face of the groove. This is of the utmost importance in a hollow water cooled piston because it per mits a thinner piston rim and hence better cooling. Also the groove, of the very simplest form, conducing to ease of manufacture.

Having thus described the invention, what Ic1aimis:- W 1. The combination of a piston having a packing rin groove; a packing ring composed of a lurality of sections having overlapping en 8, the said sections being grooved .on their inner faces; a keeperlying in a recess in said ring sections at each point of junction; and-springs lying grooves insaid ring sections, earing at their ends on the keepers and near their middles on the bottom of the packing ring grooves 2. The combination of a piston having a =packing rin groove; a packing ring composed of a urality of sections having overlapping en s, the said sections being grooved on their inner faces; a keeper lying in a recess in'sa-id'ring sections at each oint of junction; and springs lying partial y in the grooves in said ring sections, and-urging said eepers'outwardly:

3. The'combination of a :piston having a packing ring groove;'a packing ring therein composed of a lurality of sections having overlapping en s, the said sections being grooved on their inner faces; a plurality of keepers, one of saidkeepers lying beneath each of the ring sections where they overlap 4 and bridging their line of junction, said keepers having grooves forming continuations of the'grooves in' adjacent ring sections; and springs lyirg partially in said grooves in the ring ctions and keepers,

' each spring bearing atlits ends a ainst two ters in the ring groove and arranged to urge said sections outwardly.

5. A packing ring for pistons comprising in combination, ring sections overlapping at their ends and grooved on their inner faces; keepers engaging said sections adjacent their partially in the,

points of junction and providedwith grooves forming continuations of the grooves in adjacent ring sections; and springs engaging said keeper's andlying partially in said grooves.

6. In combination with a piston having an annular groove formcd around the same; a packing ring mounted in. the groove, said ring being composed.of a plurality of sections having fiverl'apping ends each of said sections being formed with a groove upon its inner face; a keeper located at the point of junction of said sections, and bridging the same; a'nda plurality of bow-shaped springs one for each section, said springs hearing at their centers upon the bottom of the groove in theipiston and having their ends-en aging the adjacent pair of keepers and tom ing to-urge the same outwardly and consequently to extend the packing.

In combination with a piston having an annular groove formed around the same;

-a packing ring mounted in the groove, said ring bein composed of a plurality of sections having overlap ing ends, each of said sections being forme with a groove upon its inner, face; kee ersloeated at the points of junction of sai sections, bridging the same and having grooves extending from the ends toward the middle of the keepers forming extensions of the grooves in the ring sections and a plurality of bow-shaped springs, one for'eachsection, said springs bearing at 'their centers upon the bottom of the groove in: the piston and having rounded ends engaging the grooves ofthe adjacent pair of ke ers to urge the same outwardly to can tend the packing, 1

8. A packing rin' for pistons comprising in combination a p urality of ring sections overlapping at their ends, said sections being grooved on thci t inner faces; keepers engaging said sections beneath their point of junction and rovided with grooves extending from their ends toward their mid- -dles',,such grooves bein adapted to form extension of the grooves in the ring-sections and a plurality of springs arranged circumferentially beneath the packing ring sections, the said springs bearing at their ends in the grooves 1n the keepers and lying at intermediate points within the grooves in the ring sections whereby the springs tend to preserve the alinement of tions and keepers,

the ring sec- In testlmony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the two subscribing witnesses.

p ARTHUR J. Witnesses:

B; A. BRENNAN, J. E. Fromm).

presence of WEST. 

